🚀 go-pugleaf

On Thu, 27 Feb 97 01:30:45 GMT, j-dawg@ix.netcom.com (Jay Gorrell)
wrote:

>In article <33162CE9.7B61@nwj.com>, dpincus@inetconn.net wrote:
>>If the hard drive passes, a screen message will say so. If it doesn't
>>pass (mine didn't), it will display a Failure Code Number and tell you
>>to contact Western Digital Technical Support. I called their 800 number
>>(listed in the documentation), gave them the Failure Code Number, and
>>they said they will send a newer model 1.6 Gb drive within the next 8 to
>>10 days, and to return the suspect drive in the same shipping container.
>>No argument, no fuss.
>>
>
>Mine also failed - Does anyone have a good 1.6Gb drive??
>
Yes, My AC31600H drive passed the test.

Here is what my report said if you want to compare it to what yours
said:

******** Begin Verify Drive Test 2/26/97, 19:44:22 *******

Model:        WDC AC31600H
S/N:            WD-WT2891572896
Firmware:  23.16U23
C H S:         3148 16 63
Drive:          1
Baseport:   0x1F0
DCM:           CNBCYBHB
Build Date: 04-04-1996


Test stopped as of 2/26/97, 19:50:05
NO ERRORS DETECTED FOR THIS DRIVE.
Final Code For This Drive: 0000
Test Complete.


I don't know about you two, but it came to me as a bit of a shock when
I saw the quality bulletin.

Why Drive 1?  My other Drive is a WDC AC31200F.

Although the 31200 has a smaller cache and all, it was my only drive
until I added the 31600.  I made the 31600 slave.

On Thu, 27 Feb 97 01:30:45 GMT, j-dawg@ix.netcom.com (Jay Gorrell)
wrote:

>In article <33162CE9.7B61@nwj.com>, dpincus@inetconn.net wrote:
>>If the hard drive passes, a screen message will say so. If it doesn't
>>pass (mine didn't), it will display a Failure Code Number and tell you
>>to contact Western Digital Technical Support. I called their 800 number
>>(listed in the documentation), gave them the Failure Code Number, and
>>they said they will send a newer model 1.6 Gb drive within the next 8 to
>>10 days, and to return the suspect drive in the same shipping container.
>>No argument, no fuss.
>>
>
>Mine also failed - Does anyone have a good 1.6Gb drive??
>
Yes, My AC31600H drive passed the test.

Here is what my report said if you want to compare it to what yours
said:

******** Begin Verify Drive Test 2/26/97, 19:44:22 *******

Model:        WDC AC31600H
S/N:            WD-WT2891572896
Firmware:  23.16U23
C H S:         3148 16 63
Drive:          1
Baseport:   0x1F0
DCM:           CNBCYBHB
Build Date: 04-04-1996


Test stopped as of 2/26/97, 19:50:05
NO ERRORS DETECTED FOR THIS DRIVE.
Final Code For This Drive: 0000
Test Complete.


I don't know about you two, but it came to me as a bit of a shock when
I saw the quality bulletin.

Why Drive 1?  My other Drive is a WDC AC31200F.

Although the 31200 has a smaller cache and all, it was my only drive
until I added the 31600.  I made the 31600 slave.

In article <33162CE9.7B61@nwj.com>, dpincus@inetconn.net wrote:
>If the hard drive passes, a screen message will say so. If it doesn't
>pass (mine didn't), it will display a Failure Code Number and tell you
>to contact Western Digital Technical Support. I called their 800 number
>(listed in the documentation), gave them the Failure Code Number, and
>they said they will send a newer model 1.6 Gb drive within the next 8 to
>10 days, and to return the suspect drive in the same shipping container.
>No argument, no fuss.
>

Mine also failed - Does anyone have a good 1.6Gb drive??

On Thu, 27 Feb 97 01:30:45 GMT, j-dawg@ix.netcom.com (Jay Gorrell)
wrote:

>In article <33162CE9.7B61@nwj.com>, dpincus@inetconn.net wrote:
>>If the hard drive passes, a screen message will say so. If it doesn't
>>pass (mine didn't), it will display a Failure Code Number and tell you
>>to contact Western Digital Technical Support. I called their 800 number
>>(listed in the documentation), gave them the Failure Code Number, and
>>they said they will send a newer model 1.6 Gb drive within the next 8 to
>>10 days, and to return the suspect drive in the same shipping container.
>>No argument, no fuss.
>>
>
>Mine also failed - Does anyone have a good 1.6Gb drive??
>

Does everybody get the same 1205 final status code.  I wonder if their

utility is broken.  This is the second 31600 that I have had to
replace in the last 3 months.  I requested that they send a 21600 this
time.  I guess I will have to wait and see.

John

I tested mine and it passed and found no errors. It was made in August
1995.

I also installed the overlay some months ago, I think it was around June
1996.


-- 
// Dan in Old Town, Maine \\

Jay Gorrell <j-dawg@ix.netcom.com> wrote in article
<5f2o53$nun@dfw-ixnews11.ix.netcom.com>...
> In article <33162CE9.7B61@nwj.com>, dpincus@inetconn.net wrote:
> >If the hard drive passes, a screen message will say so. If it doesn't
> >pass (mine didn't), it will display a Failure Code Number and tell you
> >to contact Western Digital Technical Support. I called their 800 number
> >(listed in the documentation), gave them the Failure Code Number, and
> >they said they will send a newer model 1.6 Gb drive within the next 8 to
> >10 days, and to return the suspect drive in the same shipping container.
> >No argument, no fuss.
> >
> 
> Mine also failed - Does anyone have a good 1.6Gb drive??
> 
> 

The file was present on AOL on the evening of 2/28.  Go to WDC and its
under software.

Eric Seppanen wrote:
> 
> iwas@there.com (- C J -) wrote:
> >
> >I Went to the site and it
> >wasn't there. Then I Called tech support, and they told me they
> >withdrew the file to test it further!?!
> 
> Sometime during the day on 2/27, the web page was changed to remove
> all trace of a test program.  I downloaded it at work, went home, and
> when I looked at the web page, the program was gone.  Sounds fishy...

manningj@jtmwah.com (John Manning) writes:
>>
>>Mine also failed - Does anyone have a good 1.6Gb drive??
>>

>Does everybody get the same 1205 final status code.  I wonder if their

I have an AC31600 made in Jan 96.  I ran the utility and it said
everything is fine, no problems.  I'll keep my fingers crossed.

--

Gurprit Mann                      E-mail: gurprit@sfu.ca             
Undergraduate Studies             Faculty of Business Administration 
Simon Fraser University           Burnaby, BC, Canada                

On Fri, 28 Feb 97 14:18:04 GMT, docw@mindspring.com (DocW) wrote:

>In article <33167b96.28242215@news.concentric.net>, iwas@there.com (- C J -) wrote:
>
>>Could you post that program here please? I Went to the site and it
>>wasn't there. Then I Called tech support, and they told me they
>>withdrew the file to test it further!?! Maybe so many peoples' drives
>>failed the test, that they wanna rig the program to give more
>>"favorable" results. I Would rather use the original test on my drive.
>>Can one of you help?
>>
>>Thanks, - C.J.-
>Could be due to problems like I encountered- I have an AC31600 (sez' so on the 
>box AND the drive label) and got an error code of 0257 with the message 
>"Please contact technical support concerning this drive." I called and when I 
>gave the error code the tech started arguing with me that I DID NOT have an 
>AC31600. I told him repeatedly that I was staring at the drive label and it 
>sure was an AC31600 (it was purchased factory sealed from Best Buy at the end 
>of '95). He went into detail on the fact that this error code meant he could 
>not issue me a return because I DID NOT Have a 31600. Then he said my drive 
>could be fixed with the ATIDE program (been there- done that, it still is 
>growing bad sectors even after doing the overlay and remapping over 220 bad 
>clusters.) I asked him why the program would tell me to contact him if this 
>wasn't even the 31600 and there wasn't a problem- he said "well, it just wants 
>us to be aware of the results". Finally after I told him his error code was 
>BOGUS he huffed and said "just wait a minute". I was put on hold for 3-5 
>minutes. When he returned he was a perfect gentleman and started taking my 
>name and address to issue me an RMA and a new 21600 drive. A happy ending, but 
>something is amiss.
>DocW

My 31600 got the common 1205 error code.  I received the replacement
drive today.  I called WD support on Tuesday so I am happen with the
turnaround time.  They were out of 21600s so they sent me a 32500
instead.  I don't mind the extra 900 MBs, though... :)

John

David Pincus <dpincus@inetconn.net> wrote:

Thanks!!

>According to Western Digital, there was a manufacturing problem that
>causes some of the AC31600 drives to fail. The company has a Diagnostic
>Utility that will determine if an AC31600 is likely to fail. This
>utility and instructions for its use can be found on the AC31600 Quality
>Bulletin webpage at:

><http://www.wdc.com/products/ac31600-quality.html>

>Read the webpage, then go to item 5, download the utility, unpack it,
>and read the instructions for running the software. 

BTTTDT, but there's no link to a file download.  Where?

I just spoke to WD.  They told me that the test program that was available
2 days ago is not entirely accurate!  They will have an updated test
program on the web by Monday.

I have a more basic question about this WD drive problem.  Can someone 
help me out here.

From what I've seen, it looks like there are two separate(?) problems and 
solutions out there.  One involves the "overlay" (which I know nothing 
about, really) and appears to be for several different models of WD 
drives which are incompatible with certain motherboards/bios??  The other 
is the manufacturing defect which the test program is supposed to detect 
on the WDC31600 specifically.

Are these two problems related?  Totally separate?  I cannot tell from 
the postings on this newsgroup.

Thanks in advance.

John



********************************************
John Rattliff
johnr@mail.duke.edu
********************************************

A friend of mine has run the utility and found that his WD drive was not 
defective.  (I'm not sure which outcome I'd rather get.  Would you rather 
have a defective replaced for free, or be stuck with a "certified ok" 
version of the suspect model?)

As far as replacement models go, the 31600 is no longer in production, so 
I'd expect you'll get the 21600 when they send you a new one.

John

On Thu, 27 Feb 1997, John Manning wrote:
> Does everybody get the same 1205 final status code.  I wonder if their
> 
> utility is broken.  This is the second 31600 that I have had to
> replace in the last 3 months.  I requested that they send a 21600 this
> time.  I guess I will have to wait and see.
> 
> John
> 
> 
> 

********************************************
John Rattliff
johnr@mail.duke.edu
********************************************

David Pincus <dpincus@inetconn.net> wrote:

><http://www.wdc.com/products/ac31600-quality.html>
>
>Read the webpage, then go to item 5, download the utility, unpack it,
>and read the instructions for running the software. If you are not sure
>whether your PC has this particular drive or not, the utility will tell
>you which drive is in your PC, and if it's the one in question. If it is
>an AC31600, it will run the tests... 


>David

Could you post that program here please? I Went to the site and it
wasn't there. Then I Called tech support, and they told me they
withdrew the file to test it further!?! Maybe so many peoples' drives
failed the test, that they wanna rig the program to give more
"favorable" results. I Would rather use the original test on my drive.
Can one of you help?

Thanks, - C.J.-

John Manning wrote:
 
> >Mine also failed - Does anyone have a good 1.6Gb drive??
I think there aren't any, not by WD anyway ;-)

> Does everybody get the same 1205 final status code.
Yep, me too. I've heard from two sources that about 50% of all AC31600
drives fail.
My dealer told me he had 50% failure on HP machines he sold.
Also: check out this article:
http://www.pcweek.com/news/0210/13ewd.html

I traded my WD 31600 for a seagate medalist 2,5 Gb (rocks!), no more WD
for me.

Tom

In article <33167b96.28242215@news.concentric.net>, iwas@there.com (- C J -) wrote:

>Could you post that program here please? I Went to the site and it
>wasn't there. Then I Called tech support, and they told me they
>withdrew the file to test it further!?! Maybe so many peoples' drives
>failed the test, that they wanna rig the program to give more
>"favorable" results. I Would rather use the original test on my drive.
>Can one of you help?
>
>Thanks, - C.J.-
Could be due to problems like I encountered- I have an AC31600 (sez' so on the 
box AND the drive label) and got an error code of 0257 with the message 
"Please contact technical support concerning this drive." I called and when I 
gave the error code the tech started arguing with me that I DID NOT have an 
AC31600. I told him repeatedly that I was staring at the drive label and it 
sure was an AC31600 (it was purchased factory sealed from Best Buy at the end 
of '95). He went into detail on the fact that this error code meant he could 
not issue me a return because I DID NOT Have a 31600. Then he said my drive 
could be fixed with the ATIDE program (been there- done that, it still is 
growing bad sectors even after doing the overlay and remapping over 220 bad 
clusters.) I asked him why the program would tell me to contact him if this 
wasn't even the 31600 and there wasn't a problem- he said "well, it just wants 
us to be aware of the results". Finally after I told him his error code was 
BOGUS he huffed and said "just wait a minute". I was put on hold for 3-5 
minutes. When he returned he was a perfect gentleman and started taking my 
name and address to issue me an RMA and a new 21600 drive. A happy ending, but 
something is amiss.
DocW

iwas@there.com (- C J -) wrote:
>
>I Went to the site and it
>wasn't there. Then I Called tech support, and they told me they
>withdrew the file to test it further!?!

Sometime during the day on 2/27, the web page was changed to remove
all trace of a test program.  I downloaded it at work, went home, and
when I looked at the web page, the program was gone.  Sounds fishy...

In article <Pine.SOL.3.91.970228192301.24146D-100000@teer11.acpub.duke.edu>, "John R. Rattliff" <johnr@mail.duke.edu> wrote:
>
>
>A friend of mine has run the utility and found that his WD drive was not 
>defective.  (I'm not sure which outcome I'd rather get.  Would you rather 
>have a defective replaced for free, or be stuck with a "certified ok" 
>version of the suspect model?)
>
>As far as replacement models go, the 31600 is no longer in production, so 
>I'd expect you'll get the 21600 when they send you a new one.
>
>John

I received a replacement drive which turned out to be bad.  It was a model 
AC31600 made *28 January 1997*!!  They were still in production less than a 
month ago!
It appears that WD's press release staff is ill informed or they are not being 
truthful about the 31600 producting being ceased in August of 1996.

In article <3316ABCC.51F8@inter.nl.net>,
>I traded my WD 31600 for a seagate medalist 2,5 Gb (rocks!), no more WD
>for me.

If the dead seagate I pulled out of a system a couple of weeks back had
been a western digital, it could have been sent back under a three year
warranty for replacement.  Since it wasn't, I'll probably use it for a
target.
--
email:hillco@socketis.net     Columbia, Missouri, or there-abouts.

ohlenc@ucs.orst.edu (Christopher Ohlen) writes:
>I received a replacement drive which turned out to be bad.  It was a model 
>AC31600 made *28 January 1997*!!  They were still in production less than a 
>month ago!
>It appears that WD's press release staff is ill informed or they are not being 
>truthful about the 31600 producting being ceased in August of 1996.

Perhaps this is the situation: WD did stop manufacturing the 31600 in Aug
96, but the replacement drives that people are receiving are
*remanufactured* drives, ie the same chassis that people are returning,
but with new firmware (or whatever) and a new sticker date. (And
hopefully recertified with a new test suite, logged for a full warranty,
etc.)

On Thu, 27 Feb 1997 17:53:31 GMT, manningj@jtmwah.com (John Manning)
wrote:

>On Thu, 27 Feb 97 01:30:45 GMT, j-dawg@ix.netcom.com (Jay Gorrell)
>wrote:
>
>>In article <33162CE9.7B61@nwj.com>, dpincus@inetconn.net wrote:
>>>If the hard drive passes, a screen message will say so. If it doesn't
>>>pass (mine didn't), it will display a Failure Code Number and tell you
>>>to contact Western Digital Technical Support. I called their 800 number
>>>(listed in the documentation), gave them the Failure Code Number, and
>>>they said they will send a newer model 1.6 Gb drive within the next 8 to
>>>10 days, and to return the suspect drive in the same shipping container.
>>>No argument, no fuss.
>>>
>>
>>Mine also failed - Does anyone have a good 1.6Gb drive??
>>
>
>Does everybody get the same 1205 final status code.  I wonder if their
>
>utility is broken.  This is the second 31600 that I have had to
>replace in the last 3 months.  I requested that they send a 21600 this
>time.  I guess I will have to wait and see.
>
>John
>

I have 2 1.6 GB drives and no problems so far... Knock on wood.

In article <331826da.156268923@news.gate.net>, manningj@jtmwah.com wrote:
>My 31600 got the common 1205 error code.  I received the replacement
>drive today.  I called WD support on Tuesday so I am happen with the
>turnaround time.  They were out of 21600s so they sent me a 32500
>instead.  I don't mind the extra 900 MBs, though... :)
>

I got a different final code - and I am very happy to report that I received 
my drive in 3 days and it was also upgraded to the 32500 at no charge.

My 31600 also failed when I ran the wddiag surface scan program which is still 
available from their web site (NOTE: wddiag is different that the wd31600 
utility)

Hi.  I caught this thread a little late.  Can someone recap what is going
on?  I have a WD31600 (the 1.6 gig drive) and would like to know if I
should be concerned.  Which tests are you people talking about?  Thanks.

Chester

On Thu, 27 Feb 1997 22:24:24 GMT, dino@bedrock.com wrote:

>On Thu, 27 Feb 97 01:30:45 GMT, j-dawg@ix.netcom.com (Jay Gorrell)
>wrote:
>
>>In article <33162CE9.7B61@nwj.com>, dpincus@inetconn.net wrote:
>>>If the hard drive passes, a screen message will say so. If it doesn't
>>>pass (mine didn't), it will display a Failure Code Number and tell you
>>>to contact Western Digital Technical Support. I called their 800 number
>>>(listed in the documentation), gave them the Failure Code Number, and
>>>they said they will send a newer model 1.6 Gb drive within the next 8 to
>>>10 days, and to return the suspect drive in the same shipping container.
>>>No argument, no fuss.

iwas@there.com (- C J -) wrote:

>rasputin@mindspring.com (rasputin) wrote:
>
>
>>Quick question, Western Digital  removed the utility for checking the
>>harddrive, correct? Does anyone know when the new improved utility
>>will be available? Thanks in advance.
>>"The Mad Monk"
>
>"New and Improved" for who?, us or them?
>
>- C.J.- 
Hopefully us, but probably them!
"The Mad Monk"

In article <33202898.11091267@news.gville.mindspring.com>, 
rasputin@mindspring.com says...
>
<SNIP>
>>
>Quick question, Western Digital  removed the utility for checking the
>harddrive, correct? Does anyone know when the new improved utility
>will be available? Thanks in advance.
>"The Mad Monk"

There is a version 1.2 of the wdverify program.  They had to Fedex
it to me and I had to retest my drive before they'd send me a new
one.

The original program reported error 1205, the new one reported 1204.

They finally did agree to replace my drive.


Steve


-- 
        ,_______________________________________________________,
~~~   ??|                                                       |
c-OO    |  Steve Bourgeois                            
   ) /  |  Oracle Corporation
  -     |  Boston, MA                                           | /__ OO-
==()    |                                                       | |  |o  U
  ||   _|  sbourgeo@us.oracle.com, sbourgeo@ici.net             | |  |== )=
   \\_//|  http://www.ici.net/cust_pages/sbourgeo/sbourgeo.html |  --  //
    `-' `-------------------------------------------------------'      ~
The statements and opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily 
represent those of Oracle Corporation.

Jim Wight <J.K.Wight@ncl.ac.uk> wrote:

>manningj@jtmwah.com (John Manning) writes:
>
>>Does everybody get the same 1205 final status code.  I wonder if their
>
>I got a 1204 in one case. It differed from the ones that failed with 1205 in
>that it made the horrible clonking noise during verification that past disks
>which failed in operation made when they finally wouldn't boot.
>
>Jim
>---
>J.K.Wight@newcastle.ac.uk
>Department of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Tel: +44 191 222 8238
>Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom.             Fax: +44 191 222 8232
>
>
>
>
>
Quick question, Western Digital  removed the utility for checking the
harddrive, correct? Does anyone know when the new improved utility
will be available? Thanks in advance.
"The Mad Monk"

manningj@jtmwah.com (John Manning) writes:

>Does everybody get the same 1205 final status code.  I wonder if their

I got a 1204 in one case. It differed from the ones that failed with 1205 in
that it made the horrible clonking noise during verification that past disks
which failed in operation made when they finally wouldn't boot.

Jim
---
J.K.Wight@newcastle.ac.uk
Department of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Tel: +44 191 222 8238
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, United Kingdom.             Fax: +44 191 222 8232

rasputin@mindspring.com (rasputin) wrote:


>Quick question, Western Digital  removed the utility for checking the
>harddrive, correct? Does anyone know when the new improved utility
>will be available? Thanks in advance.
>"The Mad Monk"

"New and Improved" for who?, us or them?

- C.J.- 

sbourgeo@ici.net (Steve Bourgeois) wrote:

>In article <33202898.11091267@news.gville.mindspring.com>, 
>rasputin@mindspring.com says...
>>
><SNIP>
>>>
>>Quick question, Western Digital  removed the utility for checking the
>>harddrive, correct? Does anyone know when the new improved utility
>>will be available? Thanks in advance.
>>"The Mad Monk"
>
>There is a version 1.2 of the wdverify program.  They had to Fedex
>it to me and I had to retest my drive before they'd send me a new
>one.
>
>The original program reported error 1205, the new one reported 1204.
>
>They finally did agree to replace my drive.
>
>
>Steve
 
What's the difference between the two error codes?

- C.J.-

rasputin@mindspring.com (rasputin) wrote:

>iwas@there.com (- C J -) wrote:
>
>>rasputin@mindspring.com (rasputin) wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Quick question, Western Digital  removed the utility for checking the
>>>harddrive, correct? Does anyone know when the new improved utility
>>>will be available? Thanks in advance.
>>>"The Mad Monk"
>>
>>"New and Improved" for who?, us or them?
>>
>>- C.J.- 
>Hopefully us, but probably them!
>"The Mad Monk"
One other quick question relevant to all of this.( I do not have a WD
hardrive(seagate), however) my father has the suspect hardrive on his
HP, only it has an extra letter at the end. Are any of you who are
having difficulties using an HP? Thanx. His tested good with the first
version of the utility.
"The Mad Monk"